Monaro to help Pontiac combat Camaro?

While Holden’s new Ute and Commodore Sports Wagon were always destined to see production (see separate story here), Monaro’s future has been less certain. Now CarPoint can report exclusively that there is light at the end of the tunnel for the iconic Aussie nameplate. But don’t expect the ‘new’ Monaro to be a carbon-copy of the old

Indeed, top of Holden’s VE wishlist (but dependent on strong sales acceptance of a VE sedan range, then ute and sports wagon), CarPoint has confirmed VE Monaro reached final clay stage, or perhaps even early tooling before it was killed off.

According to those who saw it, it was stunner in the same tradition as the recent generation coupe.

Holden sources say disappointment that the car will never see the light of day is huge in some quarters. Yet insiders are adamant that it will not be dusted off and put into production as the market has already moved on. A VE Monaro would need to reflect a totally different market and timing they say.

So how did the VE Monaro get so far and then be so abruptly abandoned? At the time it was being finalised in 2002-03, there was powerful sentiment around the Monaro with a strong baby boomer buyer base reliving past Monaro glories. There was also great hope that the Pontiac GTO version would be a big sales winner.

Just as all these factors needed to come together to support a convincing business case for the VE replacement, the Monaro picture unravelled in several key areas.

After an initial buying spurt from a limited older buyer base, V2 Monaro sales almost stalled exposing the hefty entry price and lack of appeal that kept younger buyers away.

Clearance staff offers kept it alive until the VZ’s arrival. Then the Americans were so underwhelmed by its soft engines and presentation, that many saw the Aussie Monaro as an insult as a replacement for the hallowed Pontiac GTO heritage.

The Americans were proved correct after US-market revisions kick-started a massive local VZ Monaro sales revival locally that was still running red hot right to the end. Even export sales improved enough to consider a replacement.

However, there was an interim period when VE Monaro had no internal champion especially when Pontiac was not sticking its hand up for a replacement as pre-facelift export GTO models stockpiled in holding yards.

Against a backdrop of GM austerity, Holden had to kill off the VE Monaro and assign valuable resources to more profitable projects.

There is now a wildcard that has changed all that.

The development of the new Chevrolet Camaro on the VE platform will deliver a cheaper, more youthful model for both the local and US market. It will help fund a two-door platform in both left and right hand drive, on a shorter wheelbase.

The US launch of this model will break the current equilibrium among GM’s US divisions and force Pontiac to match Chevrolet’s hot new star.

And that’s where Monaro comes in!

The days where Pontiac could market a Camaro with a different nose cone and tail lights badged as a Firebird (pictured) are gone. Pontiac will need to come up with its own coupe, the specifications for which now appears to be more in line with what Holden needs in a Monaro replacement.

Pontiac has already requested variations of the VE sedan range to supplement its US models and the door is open for both Holden and Pontiac to develop a shared Coupe to complement shared sedan models.

In other words, the synergies between Pontiac and Holden are about to get much closer than when the Aussie team was supplying a Pontiac-badged Monaro.

Now both Holden and Pontiac need a more youthful and sportier model to compete against the Camaro and fresh new Daimler-Chrysler challengers in a younger, lower price market.

The Monaro is now in a remarkably similar position to when the final HJ Monaro GTS version was facing internal competition from a more youthful Torana range including the later SS Hatchback.

This time it seems that Holden, instead of killing off the Monaro as it did then, will respond with a shared Pontiac model that has never been more exciting or alive!